It has been a month now since my iOS card game app based on Rook, Blackbird, has been approved in the App Store. It has been a blast! It is definitely the funnest project that I have worked on. I think that is mainly due to the fact that I did it all myself and the App Store is a big market. Well, I can’t really say that because I’ve had lots of input and help with testing from friends and family – mostly my dad who is a big Rook fan. I thought I’d just write up a quick post on some things I’ve learned, and throw in some app statistics.

Some things I have learned

I chose to write an iOS app simply because I have an iPhone and most of my family have iPhones.

I didn’t use a cross-platform developer tool like Titanium that would allow me to write code once and deploy to iOS and Android. This was a very hard decision for me, but I’m glad I went the XCode/Objective C route. Here are my reasons: (Whenever I say, “Titanium”, I really mean any project like it. They all work very similarly.)

The Objective C language is really growing on me. It’s very different at first and has some concepts that are unlike any language that I’d learned before. But I really like it now. So I’m glad I took the time to learn.

I have a computer playing AI that I want to be as fast as possible. Even though they translate the JavaScript into native code, I can write native code that performs faster for my specific tasks than Titanium can. I feel comfortable that when I need to work on performance, I can get every inch of performance possible.

I have a problem feeling restricted to the currently implemented features. I worry about running into a situation where I want to use a feature that is supported by the platform, but not implemented by Titanium. This may be an irrational fear, but I still have it.

I have recently talked to people who have worked on Titanium projects and they have told me that they both love it and hate it. They say that some bugs are really hard to track down because you’re not sure if the bug is in your code or theirs. They also say that you still end up writing a lot of platform-specific code. You also have to pay for their nicer versions and you have to write modules to support native iOS features that aren’t yet implemented by Titanium.

The up side of writing in a language I’m already familiar with (JavaScript) and deploying to multiple platforms at the same time just isn’t worth it to me.

When I released the app, it had relatively few features. I knew that there were several things that would be in high demand, but I released it without them anyways. I’m really glad I made that decision. The feedback has poured in and it has definitely steered me in a different direction that I would have taken on my own.

I haven’t done any marketing yet. I’ll be interested to see if I can get some app review sites to review my app and what effect that will have. I expect that a multi-player mode and a universal app will also have a big impact. So, I’m excited for the future!

There have been 1,388 downloads total. Thanksgiving weekend was very good for downloads. Every day there are about 500 different people that play the game. I’m trying to get multiplayer in before Christmas, so it will be nice to have a healthy number of people to be auto-matched with in addition to inviting your friends.

I love this game. Grew up playing this game and can’t wait for online playing. Thank you so much for putting it out. Will you ever consider going to the android market with this in the future? Keep up the great work!

Yes, I am planning on it. There are a lot of Android users clamoring for a version to play on their device. My current tentative road map kind of looks like this:

* Add real-time multiplayer
* Add achievements and statistics
* Add a turn-based multiplayer option
* Add in a tutorial/first-time-user mode
* Make an Android version
* Maybe make a Window 8 version
* Maybe make desktop versions for Windows/Mac

Of course there are lots of little things in there as well that include things like new rules customizations, tweaks to the AI, choose names for the computers, etc.

Also, there is a caveat to all of this. The reason that I have created this game is because I enjoy programming, I love playing Rook with my family, and I have an iPhone. While I am currently charging $0.99 for the game, after Apple’s cut I have really only been compensated for about 0.6% of the time that I have spent making the game. (I’m actually still in the negative if you count my expenses). Anyways, I’m not telling you this because I want more money. I’m just not sure that my motivation won’t run out after a while because it is a lot of work!

With all of that said, I do still currently plan on implementing versions for other platforms and Android will probably be the first other platform that I work on. It is really cool to see how many other people are passionate about the game. A LOT of people love the game!

That may be more than you wanted to know. Thanks for your support and thanks for playing!

I am absolutely thrilled that I discovered this game Yesterday! I wanted to take a moment to personally Thank You and share my own story with you.

I’m a software developer as well, and have considered trying to code a version of Rook for online gamers and lovers of the game, but I just never had the patience or the time for learning mobile development.

Your Blackbird! game is absolutely superb! I use to play Rook on games.com, unfortunately that ended when they dropped it. Your game, while currently single player only is so much more robust! My family plays a different version of Rook than the Official Kentucky discard with rigid guidelines every Friday Night. Your game grants me the ability to configure 95% of the rules that we use in our version. I cannot fully put into words how thrilled I am with the custom settings feature!

As my father ages, I fear the day that the man who taught me this wonderful game will not be able to share our Friday Night Kentucky Family tradition. Having discovered this App, it is comforting to know that there are others out there, like me, who share a passion for Rook!

Should you ever have the need for a Beta Tester of future versions of Blackbird, I would be honored. This game is by far the best digital version of this card game that I have ever played, and far better than anything I could have dreamed of coding! Kudos Don!

Hi. I was wondering if there was a way to play with friends from another state? Cause My cousin and I both got this app today and She lives on the other side of the country and we really want to play together. Maybe add facebook friends?

Finally! I’ve been looking for a Rook game that plays by our family house rules and this awesome app is the answer. Any chance you can make the AI a bit more aggressive in the next update (more like my family at home)? I mean, it really doesn’t make sense for a team who didn’t take the nest to lead out with trump ever. It tips your hand and takes all the pressure out of it for the high bidder.

Right now, there are two rule sets that come with the game. In the Official Rules, the blackbird is the highest trump card. In the Western Wyoming rules, the blackbird is the lowest trump. You can create your own rule set, but currently there isn’t an option to make the Blackbird a 10.5. I am planning on adding this in an update coming soon.

Dear Mr;
I write from Europe, please write a Android version, and also send your App on Amazon, i have Kindle Fire.
I’m a student, and have few money, it’s very annoying for me buy a iPad only for play your fantastic game.
I wait.
Now i play some time with iPhone of my brother, your games with last update it’s very very nice.
Thanks.

Please write an app for android!!! I know its already been said but I know quite a few people who would buy it as soon as it hit the market.
Great app by the way, I played it on a friends iphone and really enjoyed it!

This looks bloody amazing, though I have no IWhatever, I also wrote a desktop multiplayer rook clone (in java), because I wanted to play my favorite variant online. (varient being, 200 point, no 2-4, 1 high, rook low, rook follows standard suit rules) I never really had the motivation to actually take it beyond the “I can play the games I personally want to play.” phase, despite liking to code. So hard to push myself to add functionality when my own goals are for the most part met (even though it’s just quick and dirty, and I know things that should be done, even if I wasn’t going to evolve the base functionality, and there’s a lot of evolution that needs to happen, building a true lobby, allowing for connection resuming, and more/custom rule sets), and I don’t stand to gain much. Yours looks amazingly feature complete, so I will keep an eye out to see if you end up on other platforms, especially the desktop space, as I wouldn’t mind a move to something that is more attune to what I consider ideal (without me having to do it ;P).

Speaking of ideal, you even has a last hand display, I’m surprised how few online card games do that. (that’s one of the few things that already HAS made it into my quick and dirty implementation, it’s just so helpful for online play, especially for a card counting game like rook).

Just got an iPad & found this app! It’s the best $1.99 I have ever spent! I would love to see this make it to the Windows desktop platform. (My mother is handicapped & cannot hold real cards but she can use a mouse on a PC). Until then, I am looking for an older iPad for my mother to enjoy this game with the rules customized the way our family plays. What is the oldest (cheapest) iPad version that can upgrade to the minimum iOS version?

We love this app! Great job, love how we can change rules to our liking. Only thing I wish could be added is the one card in the middle nest and u can pick one card you wish you had and the person who has that card is your partner. I imagine that would be really hard to add in the game though.

Great app! My dad also downloaded the app after he played on my iPad for a couple of hours.
We always played Rook with the last trick being worth 20 points. Whoever got the last trick would get 20 points plus whatever points were in the trick. Thus the total points available is 200 per round. Can this rule be implemented in future updates? We also played call partner. Whoever took the bid was allowed to call one card and whoever had that card would be the partner. Can that option be available in future updates?

What a lot of fun! Played rook at every family get together growing up. Didn’t play much since then, but now that my own kids are adults, we’re playing again.
Good job on the app! I was able to customize the rules to match the way we played. Like Kristy, we also occasionally play with one card in the middle.

I can’t thank you enough Don! I have Android on my Kindle Fire HDX, as well as iDevices running the latest IOS 8.0.2. Yeah, great, but what does that have to do with the price of beans? I’ve been blind since birth, and I have to use the built-in accessibility features on these devices, i.e. Talkback and VoiceOver. Ok, and…? *GRIN* Your Blackbird game is the first and only accessible version of the card games I grew up with! I grew up playing Rook, Spades, Phase 10, Skip-Bo, etc. and none of those games have accessible versions, until Blackbird!!! If VO and Talkback didn’t try to be so helpful, meaning that they read the top layer, say the game, as well as the underlying layer, New Game, Continue, etc… Ah, who cares?! This game is still highly accessible, especially for card games, and I intend to look for an award to nominate you and your game for as regards accessibility! Thank you!

Thank you so much Don! I wish there were more game developers out there like you. I’ve written to all of the Spades developers, asking if they’d consider looking into possibly making their games accessible, with no responses. I can only play Solitaire, in all of its many formats, for so long without getting bored, so I’m being honest when I say that your game made my month. I’m back to playing Blackbird with my Mom. *GRIN* Thanks just doesn’t cover it, but there really aren’t words that can express my appreciation!

It is without a doubt my most favorite app… EVER – my family are huge rook players (being one of the games we sit around and have tournaments playing) all of them have downloaded it too. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! I love it!